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Rebecca
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Gareth
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His Best Friend
Gareth talks about someone he is very close to and how they get along now.
Rebecca: Alright, so Gareth, who's your best friend?
Gareth: Ah, difficult question, but I would have to say that my wife is my best friend.
Rebecca: You're wife so then where did you meet?
Gareth: We met in England when I was eighteen. My wife was twenty-one, and we met at university.
Rebecca: At the university really. So why are you such good friends?
Gareth: I think because we can share true feelings. With some of my friends I tend to hold a little bit back. I don't necessarily, give all of myself to them, so with my wife I can tell her that I'm sad or upset or angry or happy and we can talk about a lot of stuff, and I feel very comfortable and yeah, just realized with her.
Rebecca: That's really nice. What do you guys normally do together?
Gareth: We like movies and TV shows. We're really into American TV shows and we just finished up watching Lost. It's an American TV show that went on for quite sometime, like six years, and we watched it from the very beginning and we just watched the last episode and we like TV shows. We also have two children so most of our time is spent playing with them. Going out. We like to travel a lot, so we often travel back to my home-country, England, and my mom's living in America at the moment so we're planning to visit her for Christmas.
Rebecca: Sounds like a lot of fun.
Gareth: Yeah, it is. Definitely.
Rebecca: So then, the big question: do you guys ever fight?
Gareth: Oh, yeah. Of course, yeah, but that's the good thing about it. It's making up after the fight that's important. So it doesn't matter that we fight and I think that most couples early on tend to avoid conflict and they tend to bottle stuff up inside, but then if you do keep that inside you'll end up resenting the partner for it, so I think it's healthy to give your opinion and that's what my wife and I do. We often tell each other when we're unhappy, and the reason why and we discuss it and we often fight and sometimes it gets heated, a heated argument, but then we make up and it's good. It makes us stronger. It makes up realize what annoys the other so.
Rebecca: So you can avoid them in the future.
Gareth: Exactly, yeah.
Rebecca: Sounds really nice. That's really great. Thank you very much.
hold a little back
With my friends I tend to hold a little back.
When you hold a little back, you keep something, such as energy or effort or emotions, that you could give, but choose not to. The opposite of holding back is to be open or giving. Notice the following:
- He is shy and tends to hold back his emotions.
- The winning team held a little back for the end of the game.
give all of oneself
I don't necessarily give all of myself to my friends.
When a person gives all of oneself, that means they are very open and do not keep anything secret. Notice the following:
- In any relationship, one should give all of oneself.
- He gave all of himself to his marriage, but his wife didn't, so they got divorced.
bottle stuff up inside
When you bottle stuff up, you hold things inside such as emotions or feelings things that are trying to get out. Notice the following:
- All of my feeling are bottled up inside.
- Everything was bottled up inside until he let it all out.
heated
We had a heated argument.
When a situation is heated, that means both sides are very aggressive or upset, and usually there is much shouting or yelling. Notice the following:
- The students had a heated debate about crime and race.
- The managers had a heated discussion about company policy.
make up
We fight but then we make up and it's good.
When to people make up, they stop fighting and forgive each other. Notice the following:
- My wife and I fight a lot but we always make up.
- The best part of fighting is making up afterwards.
Vocabulary Quiz
give all of myself • bottle stuff up
